Forever
by elsbian
Summary: Rachel POV. Huddy. "It doesn’t matter how many times House makes her cry, she still won’t say no to him. Maybe she is in love with him, but you can’t love someone that makes you sad."


**I really enjoyed writing from Rachel's POV in my last oneshot, so I decided to write another. This is hopefully quite an emotional fic. Rachel is about 7 by the way.**

He's here again. He's sitting in our kitchen while Mommy puts the kettle on. I don't like it when he's here; it means he has to leave, and Mommy always cries when he leaves. It makes me sad. Mommy cries all the time and I don't know why. I try to make her feel better by giving her cuddles, but she always ends up hurting me by hugging me too tight.

I'm sitting on the stairs watching them through the kitchen door. I don't think they know I'm here, or they would have told me to go back to bed. House is watching her closely; he hasn't looked anywhere else yet. Mommy always says he looks at her funny because he's a funny man, but I think he looks at her because she's pretty. Mommy doesn't believe me.

I can't hear them very well; I think Mommy told House to stay quiet so that he wouldn't wake me. I can see Mommy wiping her eyes, trying not let House see that she's crying, but I know he can see her, and he's not doing anything about it. Why won't he just be nice to her? Why does he always have to be so mean?

---

I've been lying awake on my bed for ages now. I can hear my Disney clock ticking next to me, and it is keep me awake. The sky outside is turning light blue now, and my eyes are dry and horrible. I want to go downstairs and see if Mommy is OK now. I heard her crying all night after House left. What did he do? I want to tell her that everything will be OK, but she never believes me, she says she knows I'm right, but she doesn't stop crying.

I hug my teddy tightly in my arms and cry. I don't like it when Mommy is sad, but she is always sad. I pull my blanket further up my body and press it to my face; it makes me feel happier, because it is soft like Mommy's hand.

I try to remember what Mommy said about crying; I think it was something like, 'when you cry it gets rid of all the horrible memories, and then you feel better'. I don't believe her, it never works. Sometimes I think about something really sad and make myself cry, just to see if it works, but I still remember why I started crying, so I think Mommy was lying to me.

---

I can hear Mommy outside my door. She isn't moving. I think she is sitting on the floor and leaning against my door. I want to get up now, but I'm scared that she will tell me off for being up so early. I look over at my clock to see what the time is. The big hand is pointing at the five. Mommy said that until the big hand is pointing to the six, I'm not allowed to get up. She said I have to stay in bed and read one of my books. I hate that rule. Lying in bed is boring.

Mommy is still crying, I can hear her. She has been crying for ages. I hate it. I want her to smile again; I want her to say she loves me without her eyes being red and puffy. I squeeze my teddy in my arms again and I can feel a tear trickling down my cheek. No, I can't cry now, Mommy will tell me off!

I can't hear Mommy crying now; I think she stopped because she can hear me. I hope she hasn't heard me; I don't want her to shout at me. I think she is standing up now. I stare at my door, wet tears on my cheeks.

"Rachel?" Mommy asks. Her voice is really quiet and she sounds tired. Maybe if I don't say anything then she won't come in. I wait and listen for her to move, but I don't hear anything.

"Rachel, are you OK?" I hear Mommy say. She doesn't sound happy. She doesn't sound angry, but she does sound upset. I want to give her a cuddle now; I don't want to pretend to be asleep anymore.

"Mommy..." I say. My voice is really scratchy. Mommy says that scratchy isn't the right word and that I should say 'hoarse' instead, but that's an animal, and I don't sound like an animal.

I watch the door as Mommy pushes it open. Her face is pink and her eyes are all puffy. Why did House make her cry so much?

"Rachel!" Mommy cries, and I sit up in my bed and reach my arms out. She comes over to me and wraps her arms around me, pulling me into her hug. I cry into her shoulder and she cries into mine, too. She shouldn't be crying; she should be taking care of me and House should be taking care of her, but House isn't here, so we have to take care of each other.

---

I don't know what time it is, but me and Mommy are sitting on the couch together with Teddy and my blanket, and we're watching TV. Mommy hasn't cried at all since earlier on in my bedroom, but I think she wants to.

I cuddle up closer and stretch my blanket over both of us. I feel Mommy smile against my head, and I smile back. She hasn't smiled for ages. I miss it.

---

Eventually Mommy falls asleep on the couch. She's lying on her side with her knees in front of her and her head resting on her arm, and I'm lying in the gap between her legs and the back of the couch. It's really warm and I don't want to move now. I can hear Mommy breathing, she sounds so relaxed and peaceful, like I do when I sleep.

I close my eyes and put my thumb in my mouth, wishing I could fall asleep with Mommy. Mommy is always happy in my dreams, when House isn't around to mess things up like he always does.

---

I open my eyes and realize that Mommy isn't lying with me anymore; she's not even in the living room. I slowly sit up and look around; everything is a little blurred and fuzzy, but that always happens when I wake up.

I listened carefully for Mommy's voice, but I couldn't hear her. Where was she? I stood up and felt my head rush. I nearly fell over but I kept myself up and walked through to the hall.

Mommy wasn't here either. We only had five rooms in our house, and she isn't in one of them so far. Maybe she was in the kitchen? I walked into the kitchen and saw Mommy and House kissing. I want to cry now. He can't just come back like this! He can't keep giving Mommy hope and then walking away!

They don't know I am here, or they would have stopped by now. House has his hands on Mommy's waist, and he's kissing her really hard. Mommy's arms are wrapped around House's neck. Why is she kissing him? Why is she letting herself get hurt again?

I didn't realize it, but I am crying now. I'm trying so hard not to, but I can't help it. Mommy looks over and realizes I'm there. She pushes House off her and rushes over to me, but I don't want her to. It doesn't matter how many times House makes her cry, she still won't say no to him. Maybe she is in love with him, but you can't love someone that makes you sad.

I push Mommy away and hug my blanket to my chest.

"Why do you always go back to him?!" I cried, wet tears soaking my cheeks. I didn't mean to sound so grown-up, but I wanted to know the answer.

"Rachel, sweetie, I'm not going back to him, I-" Mommy said.

"Why are you lying, Mommy? You promised you would never lie to me." I said quietly, staring into Mommy's grey eyes. I could tell she was about to cry again. I didn't mean to make her cry.

"Rachel, I'm so sorry, I- I love you." She frowned, a tear falling down her cheek. She looked down at the floor and buried her face in her hands. She was crying really hard now.

"Mommy, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you cry." I said. My voice was quiet and sad but I couldn't help it. I wrapped my arms around Mommy's neck and hugged her, hoping she would stop crying. I felt Mommy's hands patting my back.

This was House's fault. He always made Mommy sad. Why did he always leave? Why couldn't he just say? I want him to stay, I want him to look after Mommy, I want him to make Mommy happy.

"I'd better go." I heard House stay. I pulled away from Mommy and looked at him.

"You can't go, not again." I whimpered. He couldn't, I wouldn't let him.

"This is the last time." House said, moving towards the door.

"You always say that; you always say this is the last time, but you can't leave anymore, Daddy you're mine!" I shouted. I hadn't meant to call him Daddy, it just slipped out. I looked at him and he looked back. I could tell he was surprised about me calling him Daddy, too.

I run through the hall and stand with my back against the door, trying to block his way out.

"House, please." I say quietly, staring up at him. He stands still for a moment before shaking his head and reaching for the door handle anyway.

"House, no! House stop it!" I shout, sliding down the door and sitting on the floor. Mommy rushes to my side and looks up at him too. She puts her arm around my back and pulls me to her chest.

"Mommy, don't let him leave; I don't want you to cry anymore."

---

The next thing I remember is waking up on the couch. There are lots of blankets covering me and when I open my eyes, I see House sitting on the couch opposite me. I look around for Mommy, but she isn't in here.

"Here's the thing, kid…" House started. He was still sitting on the other couch, and he didn't look like he was going to move closer.

"You may not understand now, you're only seven, but love is a complicated thing…" He continued. I felt my body warm up when he said 'love'; did he love Mommy? We could be a family!

"And although you might think it's easy for somebody to say that they love someone, it's not."

"But Mommy says she loves you all the time." I said. Why was he lying to me? He looked at my and gave me a funny look. Didn't he know Mommy loved him?

"Mommy doesn't love me." House said, shaking his head.

"Yes she does. She said she did when you left the other night. She sat on the floor leaning on the door. She cried and whispered that she loved you."

House stared at me. His eyes were really big and watery, like Mommy's are when she's about to cry. He stood up and looked at me one last time before going upstairs.

I followed him, dragging my blanket behind me. I was really quiet so he wouldn't hear me. I stood at the top of the stairs and watched him as he walked into Mommy's room. Mommy was lying on her bed with her back to the door. I watched House walk up to the bed and look down at her. Mommy rolled over and I saw her eyes were red again. She looked up at House, her mouth open a little bit.

House didn't say anything, he just gestured for her to move up. Mommy frowned a bit but moved over, rolling onto her other side so she was facing the door. House lay down next to her and kissed her.

I smiled and walked into Mommy's room. Mommy looked at me, and she looked so happy. Her eyes were all shiny. I wondered if they were shiny because of the tears, but I think it's probably because she's happy.

I climbed onto the bed and lay in between Mommy and House, spreading my blanket across all three of us. I felt Mommy kiss the side of my head, and I snuggled up to her. House reached over me and held onto Mommy's hand. I never wanted this moment to end; all three of us being a happy family. It was really nice.

I smiled and drifted off to sleep, knowing that House would never leave again. He would stay here forever.

**Hope you liked it! It was really nice to write :)**


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